Monte Cristo Games Releases Special Interview for Cities XL

Today Monte Cristo Games is making
available a special interview with CEO Jerome Gastaldi that discusses the
concepts behind their hotly anticipated city-building title – Cities XL. Having
just launched a massive beta - they wanted to share some thoughts from Mr.
Gastaldi about the current market for games in the genre, along with an overview
of the core concepts behind the game’s combination of city-building, social
networking and tycoon gameplay. The full interview can be read below.

Innovating Genres - Bringing Life
to the City

How an independent developer is
looking to innovate in a classic genre

“City Building” – the term itself
doesn’t always inspire excitement in the hearts of most gamers. The average
gamer is likely to see the genre as one filled with crunchy details, obsessive
micro-management and hours of watching a game that's seemingly run on
auto-pilot. Up until recently, you'd likely find few who would argue with that
perception, except fans of the genre themselves, however, but in recent years,
independent French developer Monte Cristo set out to change all that. Their
original outing in the genre -- "City Life," took the standard city builder, and
infused it with “life.” No more were citizens simple numbers to monitor, in City
Life, they were living, breathing human beings, with specific wants and needs,
and your job as a mayor was to do more than just plonk down buildings. City Life
was met with critical and consumer praise - spawning several sequels. Now, Monte
Cristo's taken their 80+ person team (split between Paris and Kiev) and aimed it
at the genre again, this time, going much bigger - with true social
interactions, online gameplay and features to attract a wider audience than the
traditional one of city builder player. But you have to ask, when major
publishers are no longer taking care of this genre, why even bother – which is a
question Jérôme Gastaldi, CEO of Monte Cristo is more than ready to answer -

"The game industry as a whole, not
just a single genre, needs to be shaken up. There's such an incredible lack of
innovation now. It's just 'deliver another sequel, it'll sell on name alone,'"
says Gastaldi. “Therefore games are becoming incredibly stagnant, which means
gamers are stuck with more of the same every time. If you look around, there is
so much you can add to a game, why wouldn't you? The last real benchmark in our
category is Sim City 4, a game that is now 6 years old. Do we think there is a
lot of new stuff to be brought to massively expand this style of product? Yes,
most definitely. "

That's where CITIES XL, Monte
Cristo's upcoming game, comes into things. By mixing a city builder with an MMO
and a social network, Monte Cristo's looking to turn the genre on its head, and
give gamers more than just "The Return 2: The Returning."

"At its core, CITIES XL will offer
all the city building features known to fans of the genre. If you want to play a
solo city builder, you’ll certainly be able to in the game. But we've gone to
great lengths to expand upon the genre, to bring in other gamers who might not
normally find themselves playing a game like CITIES XL. Tycoon-game players are
invited to create and manage companies within their cities and MMORPG players
will be surprised by the level of player interaction,” said Gastaldi.

A key example of how the development
team aims to take the game outside of the norm is by offering full-featured
online play. While some city builders have offered online play, it's been in a
limited form. With CITIES XL, Monte Cristo aims to give gamers a reason to play
together online. Features such as resource sharing, content creation, economic
competition and a built-in social network are all aspects of the game that Monte
Cristo hopes will get gamers to play and stay together online.

The "Planet Offer," for example, is
Monte Cristo's optional pay-to-play online service that will be included with
the game. Within the Planet Offer, consumers will be able to jump online and
build cities on virtual worlds shared by hundreds of players. These worlds will
offer varied terrains and maps, and will allow players on these worlds to
interact directly with one another. Need more electric power for your urban
wonderland? Go visit another city and ask the owner to trade you for that excess
garbage hauling capacity you have. Feel like a 3D chat? Head to the city center
and talk with other mayors via custom avatars. Competitive players will be able
to join in on contests set up by Monte Cristo, allowing for online bragging
rights and prizes. “There is a massively cool factor in visiting cities around
the virtual globe, sharing experiences with others and seeing content that you
do not own yet. This is like being in a candy shop! But even more importantly,
sharing a planet with others will give players more freedom to play; it will
open doors to cooperation in order to build big buildings or infrastructures
that need specific resources from other players and to allow the specialization
of cities. We are sure that we are going to be surprised by players in the
routes they will take,” said Jerome Gastaldi.

Monte Cristo believes that RPG
heroic fantasy isn’t the only genre that can support MMO play successfully. “We
think that there is room for alternative offers in MMOs as long as you comply
with some golden design rules. We will offer something clearly different, that
will not require long play sessions like MMORPGs to keep on progressing –this
allows both synchronous and asynchronous game play and will certainly be less
restrictive in the way it is played. “

GEMs, or "Gameplay Extension
Modules" are another concept not seen in city builders before, and are aimed at
enriching the simulation with time, extra gameplay and by attracting a whole new
breed of player - the business tycoon wanna-be.

"With GEMs, you can create online
businesses that take in virtual currency from citizens of your cities, which
help build up the resources for your main cities. GEMs are a full 'tycoon'
gaming product, and we expect that they will really pull in players who might
not be interested in a city builder, but would love to run a business alongside
their friends' cities, which allows for a cooperative experience."

One of the first GEMs that is
planned to ship with the game in 2009 is the Ski Resort. With this GEM, players
in snowy areas can build a fully functioning ski resort. This resort will act as
a complete tycoon game in and of itself - requiring the player to design the
trails, staff them with ski patrollers and offer amenities to attract visitors.
The better the trails and overall resort, the more money the player will
make…but it goes beyond just the "build and maintain" concept. In the Planet
Offer, players who have a GEM can advertise it on other players' cities – so
long as both players agree to the advertising. Once the advertising kicks in,
the GEM may then attract tourists from other towns to spend their money at the
GEM. However, if the ski resort is too simplistic, tourists will stay away in
droves, and no amount of advertising can save a boring GEM.

Having already launched a successful
Facebook page and blog for the game, Monte Cristo aims to take it further by
integrating modern web and community functionalities inside the game itself

“The web is an integral part of the
game. We think that players want accessibility and to keep in touch with their
game even when not in front of their game PC,” says Mr. Gastaldi. As such, in
Cities XL, players will be able to manage their trades online from any computer
in the world through web pages on which their game data will be exported. You’ll
have the possibility to subscribe to RSS feeds from other players, display your
achievements, locate partners or resources through social networking
functionalities, make deals online , create a city journal including your
pictures, videos and much more.

With its combination of social
networking, MMO play, city building and tycoon gameplay, CITIES XL has high
ambitions, aiming to bring in players of other game types, while pleasing fans
of the core genre. Set for a 2009 release date, CITIES XL could give the genre,
and gaming as a whole, the innovative shot in the arm it’s been craving.